What does your landscaping say about your apartment community? Does it entice people to want to learn more about living there, or is it a turn-off? The right landscaping creates an impressive, welcoming feeling, one that draws people in. Once they’ve moved in, keep them proud of where they live by maintaining your landscaping through a professional service. All you need are a few apartment landscaping ideas to get you started.
Create a Welcoming Atmosphere with these Apartment Landscaping Ideas
Using a combination of hardscaping and landscaping, create a courtyard with a water feature and benches for people to sit outside the front door. Add a mixture of low-maintenance shrubs and plants that flower from spring through the fall. Look for plants that flower in succession. For example, if you choose one plant that blooms through the spring, choose another that blooms throughout the summer to complement it. Place a shrub or plant that flowers in the fall, and you’ll have an inviting area for most of the year. If you mix in evergreen bushes, you’ll even have some color during the short Florida winter.
Lay Off the Concrete
Concrete makes everything look so clinical. While you do need concrete sidewalks for safety, use natural stone, wood, and even dirt paths to create small trails throughout the property. Flank concrete sidewalks and parking areas with gardens lined with fresh mulch chips and eye-catching plants to soften the look of the concrete.
If your complex allows dogs, make the trails dog-friendly by placing trash cans with a roll of poop bags along the trails. Use Florida’s natural fauna to create paths that invite photographers or those that like to take a walk in the woods. If you have streams on the property, build arched bridges over the creeks. If you have a pond or lake, create a trail that goes all the way around the pond or lake.
Ponds themselves create a natural beauty to the landscape. You don’t have to spend much to make an impressive statement. Place plants around the edges to create a natural area. To minimize slips, place crushed shells or stones in the areas surrounding the pond. You don’t want to encourage someone to enter into it, however, a border like this adds just enough deterrent.
Consider viewing areas where the lay of the land presents an outstanding view. A viewing area might be graveled in and have benches and strategically placed natural fauna.
Trees for Shade and Looks
Trees are an excellent component of your apartment landscaping. Create a welcoming environment by placing shade trees throughout the apartment complex. If your complex has patios, place trees that are easy to prune and that do not have an extensive root system near them for shade. Placing trees in open areas or on parking lot islands also attracts attention and new renters by making the space look welcoming. The trees also provide shade for parking.
Lighting
People feel safer in well-lit areas. Provide plenty of light. Landscape lighting along trails and near apartment entrances also attracts renters. Place lighting along trails for those who like to go for a walk at night. The light doesn’t have to be bright but should be bright enough so that it lights up the area.
Lights in the pool area not only allow people to see what they are doing but are also safety features. Decorative landscape lighting gives enough light in the areas near the pool, and floodlights ensure that the pool area is lit up for safety.
Include a Dog Park
Creating a dog park tells renters that not only are they welcome to make a new home with you, but their pets are also welcome. A dog park could be as simple as a fenced-in area with trees, or you could go all out and create a fountain for the dogs to play in, have automatic waterers, incorporate trash receptacles throughout the park. Consider placing a few obstacles to the park that allow the pet to climb and hide while playing. It can be an easy-to-maintain, valuable feature added to your property.
Pools
If your apartment complex has a pool area, spruce it up with new flowering trees or bushes, fresh wood chips, and some new hardscape décor, such as stained concrete flower bed borders. This creates an impressive look. Around the pool, be sure there’s an area for grilling and an area with picnic tables. A few shade trees can help to make a hot summer day a bit more enjoyable. For cooler nights, well-designed fire pits can work well as an extra feature.
Apartment Landscaping Ideas for Community Areas
Community areas are for renters to congregate or have a group get-together. To encourage the use of community areas, update the flora in the area and freshen up graveled and mulched areas. If the outdoor area features benches or even picnic tables and grills, add pavers and fire brick where appropriate. Not only does it look appealing, but it keeps people out of the mud after a hard rainstorm. The fire brick around the grills creates a new look and keeps the heat away from other landscaping in the area.
Placing evergreens and taller grasses such as pampas grass also encourage the renters to use the area, since that type of landscaping offers some privacy.
If your complex has a community-building, landscaping the exterior invites people to use the area. Create a patio on the property. Strategically placed potted plants and flower beds along chairs and benches allow people to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful Florida weather with a modicum of privacy. Small tables hold drinks while picnic tables or larger patio tables encourage people to spend time in the area and make new friends. Since Florida’s mosquitoes and love bugs can be annoying, having a screened-in area with landscaping around it is also an attraction for renters.
Need Landscaping Ideas for Your Apartment building?
Creating a space that is beautiful and welcoming encourages people to want to live there. Those who drive by seeing just how much attention you put into the landscaping to make it attractive and to ensure it’s well cared for. That helps encourage new tenants to look into your community. And, with so many features, existing tenants are less tempted to move. Let ASI Landscape Management help you complete your apartment complex landscaping to ensure it’s as impressive as your homes.
